We eat sugar and foods containing sugar because it’s delectable to our taste buds. When we eat a candy bar or bag of sweets, our tongues do a little dance because we’re feeding our body exactly what it craves – energy. Sugar boosts our energy when we need it, like right after a hard gym session, or when we’re feeling fatigued. But like caffeine, sugar intake causes a high boost of energy and then a sudden crash, often making us feel worse than we did before.

So how do we stop our sugar intake? First, let’s look at which foods and drinks we may be getting our sugar from, without even realizing it.

What contains sugar?

• Hot drinks, like teas and coffees. That half a spoon of sugar is enough. The average person has approximately two sugars in their tea per day – that’s about 3kg of sugar per year! 
• Cold drinks, like sodas and juice. “Low calorie” drinks may also contain a trace of sugar, and fresh juice like orange and apple juice can contain a lot of fructose – look for 100% fruit juice drinks for better alternatives.
• Candy, cookies, and baked goods. We all know this one. Candies – especially sweets – are almost entirely sugar, with some gelatin and flavoring mixed in. Most baked treats contain a high amount of sugar and fat – especially white bread (it’s part of what preserves it, so it still tastes good after you buy it from the store).
• Condiments – like ketchup and mayonnaise. Sugar gives ketchup its sweet taste, and you’d be surprised how much sugar sauces contain.
• Cereals – not just in “kids” sugary cereals, many oatmeal cereals have added sugar to give you that boost in the morning.
• Savory snacks like chips can contain some amounts of sugar in the flavorings added to them.
• Dairy products, like yogurt – low fat yogurts also don’t mean low sugar.
• Salad dressings
• Granola bars – cereal bars contain quite a high amount of sugar – it’s part of what keeps the grains and oats in its bar-like shape.
• Gum and mints – popping one or two into your mouth every few hours might seem harmless, but that’s still sugar going into your body.

That’s quite a lot, right? No wonder we can’t stop eating sugar!

How to stop sugar cravings

The most important first question of cutting out sugar from our diet is “how to get rid of sugar cravings?” Like any other craving, you have to starve it out. Take a food diary and note down everything you eat and drink for about a week (or longer if you vary your diet a lot).

Note down what you’re eating and when. Also note down times when you find yourself reaching for the candy cupboard or that pack of cookies you’ve got saved somewhere. Is it during the afternoon, after a large meal, when you get tired? Identify the times you get that craving, then take steps to eliminate it.

You can also swap your sugar cravings for something sweet, but healthy. Citrus fruits and berries are great for keeping that sugar monster at bay. You can eat yogurt low in sugar (check the nutritional facts on the back of the products), and raisins and nuts as snacks to stop you from craving fatty, sugary foods less.

Admit you’re addicted

No-one likes to admit they’re a slave to sugar, but the truth is, whenever we get a sugar craving, it’s our body’s way of telling us we an energy boost – usually in the form of something that’s sweet and very, very bad for us.

Admitting you can’t stop craving sugar is the very first step to approaching your plan to quit carefully and ensuring your new sugar-free diet is manageable and long-lasting.

Meal swapping

Don’t go cold turkey and throw away all your food that contains sugar. Chances are, you’ll crave it at some point and it’s better to keep a few sugary items to begin with to help you ease the transition. Dark chocolate and fruit such as strawberries are good alternatives to cakes, candies, and cookies – just don’t overdo it on the chocolate!

Meal swapping is harder than it looks because it’s not only about eliminating sugar, it’s about changes your snack habits to something that you will enjoy instead. Experiment – pick up a few items at the store and check their sugar content. If it’s low, buy it – it might just be your new favorite snack.

Be kind to yourself

Quitting sugar is a journey, and you can’t do it overnight. If you ate a cookie and felt bad, don’t worry about it – just mark it down as something you can learn and grow from and look forward to the next meal, when you won’t need to reach for the sugar.

Don’t use alternative sugar as a replacement

This is not to say that some alternative sugars aren’t good replacements – more on that later. But substituting one or two spoonfuls of sugar in your coffee with two teaspoons of Splenda will just make you run for the hills. Artificial sweetener is actually a lot sweeter-tasting than granular sugar, and doing a straight swap won’t do you – or your taste buds – any favors. It’s kind of like swapping real chocolate for diabetic ones – it’s edible, but it’s not the same.

Instead, try cutting back your sugar intake in your drinks by half a spoon every few days until you have just a smidgen of sugar in your tea or coffee. You can also try different tea blends to get a sweet taste out of your brew. Earl Grey tea and smoother coffee granules are good for a sweeter-tasting beverage.

5 Easy steps to quitting sugar

1: Measure, count, diarize – The one true way for you to realize how much sugar you’re ingesting and what it’s actually doing to your body is by measuring everything that you eat. Don’t skip anything out – include sauces, gum, and dressings, if you can. If you’re not sure about sugar content at a restaurant, ask the waiter or select foods where you can easily find the ingredient list on the internet.

2: How much sugar are you actually eating? – Once you count how many calories you’re eating, take away all the sugar that contributes to it. More than 10% of your daily calorie intake as sugar alone is bad. But fear not! It’s also your first step to being in tune with your diet, and you’re well on your way to eliminating sugar altogether.

3: Meal swapping – As we explained earlier, meal swapping is not just about throwing away your sugary foods and replacing them with celery sticks. Find things that you enjoy eating that don’t contain lots of sugar and you’ll soon prefer that over sweets and biscuits any day.

4: Eat better – Most of us crave sugar because we don’t actually eat right during the day. Avoid meals that have high calorie and carbohydrate content, as this can leave you feeling tired and lacking energy – both precursors to wanting that sweet treat pick-me-up.

Eating smaller meals throughout the day that are high in protein and good fats will keep your appetite in check and stop you reaching for that sugary snack.

5: Drink more, do more – We often snack when we’re bored, when we are thirsty, or when we have a particular habit (like always wanting a snack as we settle down to watch something on Netflix). If you think you might be hungry, especially if it’s not long since you last ate, try drinking a glass of cold water and wait half an hour. If you’re bored or tend to eat while watching TV, try doing something else with your hands like knitting (it’s quite therapeutic!) or painting your nails.

Sugar alternatives

While we said earlier that swapping real sugar for sweetener isn’t a good idea, trying alternative sugars can be a beneficial way to stop eating sugar altogether.

Ones to avoid

Aspartame and saccharin – While these sweeteners are in practically every “no added sugar” drink, it actually makes drinks taste sweeter than they are, and too much of it can be bad for you. Artificial sweeteners actually trick your body and mind into thinking you’re eating real sugar – which makes you crave high fat and sugary foods more, and can leave you feeling hungrier.

Fructose –  In fact, anything ending is “ose” is just another way to say “sugar.” Fructose is an added sugar, and though healthier than sugar cane sugar, too much can also be bad. A small glass of orange juice per day is a good recommendation of how much fructose you should have – anything more than that every day can cause tooth decay and other health disadvantages.

Ones to look for

Stevia leaf extract –  Stevia is a plant that is being used in more and more products lately. Tropicana use Stevia in one of their products (Tropicana 50/50) – using 50% fructose and 50% Stevia leaf extract. Not only does it taste better than no added sugar drinks, it’s better for you as it has less sugar content.

Honey – Look for organic honey, best bought in a bottle or jar rather than in foods that simply contain it. Honey releases energy slowly, and doesn’t cause a high spike in your blood sugar. It still has a fair amount of calories though, so eat it sparingly as you would any other sweet treat.

Cinnamon – Adding cinnamon to your coffee or in baking can add a real sweetness that you just can’t get from sugar. Plus it contains no calories – bonus!

Xylitol – Xylitol is a sugar alcohol (not the drunk kind!) that is found in small amounts in fruits and vegetables. It contains absolutely no fructose and has half the calories of that of table sugar.

While xylitol has no real nutritional value, it actually helps fight tooth decay by starving the bacteria that normally feeds on glucose. Many types of gum and mints contain xylitol, and you can buy it in its powder form to add to drinks and baking.

Quitting sugar is no easy feat – but you can do it! Like any other addictive substance, it will take you a while to get it out of your system – and off your shopping list.

Get yourself out of the habit of buying cookies, candy, and sweets, and into the habit of buying healthier alternatives that not only keep you going all day and make you a happier, healthier person, but products that actually taste good too!

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Here are just some of the many benefits you can expect to receive by foam rolling:

1. Control the pressure

When you use a roller you are in control of the amount of pressure that is applied to the muscle tissues. You can focus and work on the areas that are giving you problems. If you go into a massage therapist looking for help, the problematic area will be addressed but so will other parts your body. When you work out with a roller, you can spend more time on the problem and see more gains than you would with other treatment options.

2. Increase your motion range

It only takes from 5 to 10 seconds to see an increase in your motion range. If you use a foam roller technique on your hamstrings, for example, you’ll see an immediate increase in your range of motion. If you’re not a flexible type of person, you should definitely be using a roller so that you can bring your workout to the next level.

To promote a better overall spinal range of motion you can simply roll your spine on the roller. Whenever you feel any type of restriction, take a pause to allow the surrounding tissues and joints to lengthen and stretch out.

3. Better blood circulation

The blood will circulate better throughout your body. Your ligaments, tendons, muscles, and skin will receive a better blood flow, which can accelerate healing after exercise. This will also lead to better absorption of nutrients and easier disposal of waste products at the cellular level. This will improve your overall health and at the same time leave your skin smooth and shiny.

4. Lengthens and loosens tight muscles

There are some muscles and ligaments that are naturally prone to shorten and tighten. They can be difficult to stretch without the use of a foam roller. With the roller, you’ll be able to reach these ligaments and muscles and provide a deep pressure massage to them. As a result, these areas will lengthen and thereby become more flexible.

5. Balance training

This is especially important for older people that want to see an improvement in their dynamic balance levels. By working on flexibility and range of motion, the balance improves significantly. This is one of the benefits of a foam roller that shouldn’t be ignored. This type of training should be an important part of a well-balanced fitness program. Balance keeps us on our feet and contributes to stronger workouts and more confidence when engaging in sports activities.

6. Help prevent injury

Foam rollers help with total fitness by preventing injuries. When you start using them on a regular basis you’ll feel the difference in your muscles. They’ll feel stronger and more flexible and as a result this will help to prevent muscle injuries from occurring.

7. Builds up confidence

You’ll be able to move again like your body has been originally designed to move. Imagine running around like you did when you were a child and were able to do just about everything you wanted with your body! This can be achieved again through rolling techniques. Once you reach the higher levels you’ll find that your confidence in activities and sports will be stronger than ever. You’ll also be able to do things in a more relaxed way since you’ll feel the difference in your muscle mobility and won’t have to worry about injuries from overuse.

There are also other benefits of foam rolling available. Simply start talking to people that you see at the gym that are using these foam rollers. They’ll each have an individual story to tell. Since the rolling can reach deep muscle tissues and you can control how much pressure to apply, based on your own body responses, you’ll see fast and effective results. This is the new and improved massage technique that simply makes sense and works!

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1. Avoid caffeine

When you consume too much of anything your endocrine system will suffer. This is especially true when it comes to caffeine. Try to cut down on the amount of coffee, colas and chocolate you drink and eat every day. The best way to do this is to find substitutes that you enjoy almost as much as your regular caffeine fixes. For example, if you like herbal teas you can switch over to them in lieu of coffee and colas.

2. Take care of your liver

Your liver is in charge of breaking down any extra hormones that the body doesn’t need. The liver requires phytonutrients that can be found in cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli etc. As well, feed your liver onions and garlic for the sulfur compounds they provide. Your liver, body and hormones will thank you for it.

3. Herbal liver supplements

Life can start taking its toll on the liver especially if you have a history of bad eating choices. Give your liver a boost with herbs like milk thistle and dandelion root. These supplements will help to clear out the liver so that it can eliminate excess hormones efficiently. These supplements can be taken in a variety of different forms including teas, capsules, liquid extracts etc.

4. The healing power of sleep

If you aren’t getting at least 7 hours of sleep per night on a regular basis there is no way that you can balance your hormones properly. Getting enough sleep is one of the best natural ways to balance hormones and one that simply can’t be ignored. If you’re implementing the other tips we’re providing but not sleeping enough, your hormone levels will still fluctuate with a mind of their own. Sleep and let your body heal!

5. The wonders of coconut oil

You’ve probably been doing some reading about coconut oil lately. It’s been making the headlines globally as a wonder supplement for the body. When it comes to balancing hormones naturally, coconut oil should be on your list of must-have ingredients. This oil provides everything you could need for proper hormone production. Cook with it, add it to smoothies and use it as a face cream to help reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Coconut oil is nature’s gift to us and provides too many benefits to list here!

6. Omega-3 fats

Add more polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids to your diet to create a natural hormone balance. Foods containing omega-3 fats include fish and algae oil. They can also be taken in supplement form and should be included as part of your dietary daily requirements.

7. Foods to avoid

Try to incorporate a healthy eating plan into your day-to-day routine and avoid the following types of foods:

• Alcohol
• Refined carbohydrates
• Processed snack foods
• Oils containing trans fats
• Foods contain a lot of sugar
• Caffeinated drinks and food

8. Natural phytoestrogens

Foods such as strawberries and soy supply the body with plant estrogens naturally. Because they are not synthetic in nature, your body is able to handle them easily. Even if you’re suffering from too much estrogen activity, these natural sources of estrogen can help put your hormones back into balance. Red clover is an herb that also provides phytoestrogens and can be taken if you don’t like strawberries or soy products.

9. Enjoy a balanced life

The more you put your overall life choices into balance, the more you’re going to see results with your hormones. You should be exercising regularly, eating a variety of healthy wholesome foods and promoting a stress-free lifestyle. As well, you should be consuming enough fiber to keep your body regular so that there is a balance of food in and waste out. You’ll feel better overall when a balance is put in and maintained in all areas of life.

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1. Start the day on a high note

No matter what your thoughts may be when you first wake up in the morning, make your way to the shower and get prepared for a brand-new day. Get refreshed and put on a bit of makeup. You don’t have to look like you’re dressed for the prom – just make yourself presentable so that you look and feel good. This in itself is a great picker-upper that will lift your spirits for the new day ahead.

2. Stop watching or reading the news

Quite honestly, when you read too much bad news or even worse see it displayed on a television set, it will get you down. When you witness all of the bad and evil in the world, it can seem that everything and everybody is experiencing something negative in their lives. This is far from true. In fact, there are a lot more good things going on in the world than there are bad. When you surround yourself with these bad news items, however, it can make the world seem like a hopeless mess.

When you look down at your sons or daughters you’ll want to envision a world where life is good for them. You’ll want to let them know that great things are in store for them later in life and that they can do anything that they put their minds to. You can do this best by implementing positive thoughts on your end by getting rid of the negativity that surrounds you. Turn off the news and stop your newspaper subscription. It will do you wonders!

3. Make sure you’re talking to adults

If you have children running around it’s hard to keep an adult perspective at times. You may find that you’re losing a bit of your identity by having to relate to younger people all the time. Make sure that you get out enough to talk to adults on a regular basis in order to keep your perspective of life in place.

A lot of depression is actually just caused by boredom and you need to have the stimulating conversation that can only be found with other adults. Without this, it’s very difficult to stay on track.

4. Learn something new and creative

Is there anything that you’ve always wanted to learn but just didn’t have the time to do it? Even though it doesn’t seem like you have any extra time it’s important to create some. Learning something new and creative will help keep you stimulated. Maybe it’s time to learn a new instrument. Perhaps you can finally sign up for those tae-kwon-do lessons that you’ve been yearning to take. Do something fun and exciting that you absolutely don’t have time to do! Fit it into the schedule and you’ll feel like a new person.

5. Schedule your time

It can be hard to stay upbeat and happy when you feel like you’re running around in circles all day. The thing that will make you feel better about yourself is getting things done. This can be hard to do when one child is fighting with another while the baby is crying for his bottle.

The best way to put a schedule into place is to start by listing everything that you get accomplished during the day. For example, when you have given the baby his bottle you have finished a complete task as a nutritionist. That’s a great thing! When you have broken up the fight between your two children you held the hat as a referee and successfully accomplished another task. When you keep listing these things down and put a professional hat beside the job you performed, you’ll start to see how valuable you really are.

Your kids can’t live without you and need you at your best. Take some time to implement the above tips to keep your head above water. Some day the children will grow up and you’ll have more freedom. At that point, you’ll want to have solid memories in place of the time spent with your young toddlers and won’t want to look back at a confused haze of depression.

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1. Find out what the problem really is

When you have a lot of stress to deal with it can be extremely overwhelming. Things pile one onto the other until you don’t even realize what the initial stress trigger was that caused all this ruckus. Make a list of all of the things that are causing you stress right now and then make a timeline of them until you find the first thing that sparked everything.

If you were having a problem with your boss, for instance, and then your child got into a fight at school, your husband lost his job and you needed to find the funds to take your dog to the vet, it can all turn into one muddled mess. The best way to attack this pile of stress is to look back and see that the problem with your boss happened first. Try to focus on this issue and see how it can get resolved. Then, work your way onto your next problem and so on and so on. It’s difficult to handle a big confusion but much easier to tackle one problem at a time.

2. Learn how to vent in a healthy way

If you’re the type of person that needs to vent when things go wrong, you may end up doing more harm than good by venting in the wrong direction. Don’t take things out on your friends and family members too much. A little venting to them can be tolerated but when it gets to be too much, you may end up harming the relationships that are the most important to you.

When venting is a necessity to help you deal with stress, start up a journal for yourself. This is one of the best coping strategies for stress and one that you can rely on at all times. Whenever you feel like you can’t take things any more you can always turn to your special stress journal. You’ll be able to vent as much as you want and then can put the pen down when you’re feeling better. Just make sure that you can lock up your journal in a special place so that no family members have the opportunity to look through it. These are your private thoughts that may be made in anger and you should feel free to write everything and anything that you want to.

3. Eliminate extra stress factors in your life

When things are extremely stressful, don’t take on any extra activities that could just add to the problem. Say “no” to things when you need to in both your professional and personal life. You should also avoid close contact with other people that you find annoying or at least put limits on the time spent with them.

Take more control of your life during the stressful times by eliminating extra factors in your life that are sure to bring you down. These can come in a variety of fashions during everyday life. You may have a neighbor that bothers you, for example. In this case, while you are handling major stress in your life, you may want to take steps to avoid running into the neighbor on a temporary basis. It’s not time to get into anything heavy with the person that lives next door and you may find yourself saying something you don’t really mean during a conversation. Take some time off from the unnecessary stressors in your life and get back to them later when things have calmed down.

4. Turn things upside down to make them positive

Take a look at your problems in a brand-new light. No matter how bad things may seem to you now, it’s a guarantee that there’s somebody else in the world that is going through something worse. It can be easy to lose perspective of all the positive things that are happening around us when there’s a lot of stress in the environment.

Take a look at the bigger picture and put your life into perspective. Take a step back and really take an honest look at what you’re dealing with. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the forest because of the trees and all of the positive aspects of your life may have become clouded. Take a look at the things that you appreciate, the things that make you feel special, the good things around you and the amusing aspects of the issue that you’re dealing with. You may just end up with a brand new perspective on life.

5. Take care of yourself

Things can only seem worse when you’re run down. Make sure that you are getting enough sleep, exercising regularly and eating properly. Stress can also affect your body’s metabolism and even your brainpower. Make sure that you take a multivitamin that contains a lot of the B vitamins when you’re feeling stressed. They can help a lot and may help get things better focused.

Take some time for yourself and relax a bit. Enjoy a good movie out with friends or simply take a few walks through the neighborhood. When you take good care of yourself physically, it’s a lot easier to handle the emotional problems that can and will come up.

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There Is No Such Thing As A ‘Detox’ Pill

No foodstuff or over-the-counter pill you can buy will actively ‘remove toxins’ from your body. The only way you can get toxins out of your body without medical intervention is via your liver. One of your liver’s many jobs is to process and remove toxins safely – and very, very few things are more effective than your liver at this. Something advertising itself as a ‘liver cleanse’ is, in a way, more accurate than something describing itself as a ‘detox’ supplement – but there are still issues with many so-called ‘liver cleanses’…

Your Liver Heals Itself

A lot of the pills and supplements sold online promise that those taking them will, within a month, completely heal their livers – so long as they follow certain fairly basic healthy-living guidelines. And you know what? They’re right! Take the pills for a month, in addition to other small changes like cutting down on alcohol, and your liver will more or less heal from any damage done to it. And, what’s more, you’ll seriously feel those improvements, Your skin tone will be better, you’ll have more energy, your metabolism will improve, your mood will lift – it’s amazing how much better a healthy liver can make you feel! Sounds great, right? Well, it is, but you could have saved the money you spent on the pills. The liver, you see, is self-healing. Unless you’ve stitched years and years of alcohol scarring into it – in which case you really need to see a specialist – your liver is capable of incredible amounts of regeneration all by itself. No pill can speed the process up – all it needs is a break in which to work its magic.

Nobody Knows What ‘Toxins’ Are

Quick question: what are ‘toxins’? I’m willing to bet you confidently said something like ‘alcohol!’, or ‘sugar!’, or ‘salt!’. Bonus Internet Points if you said ‘Heavy metals!’ or ‘pollutants!’ or ‘chemtrails!’. According to the rather vague theories confidently touted about toxins, these things float around in the body doing damage to organs and making you wrinkly and spotty and fat. Thing is, nobody seems willing to really define them, or what they do, or how they operate, or anything like that. Medically, a ‘toxin’ is something which is poisonous. Alcohol is a good case in point, as it certainly is a (medically defined) toxin, but the body can cope with it in certain amounts. People who talk about toxins act as though they’re a kind of slow acting alcohol, gradually poisoning people via accumulation in the body. While it’s certainly true that bad foods are bad for you, and will kill you over time, the idea of toxin-accumulation (and therefore detox-by-pill) is both scientifically suspect and simply too vague to address. Which is good for some unscrupulous diet ‘gurus’, as it allows them to classify pretty much anything as a ‘toxin’ should they so wish.

The Best ‘Detox’ Is A Healthy Lifestyle

So, to recap:

•Your liver is responsible for removing toxins from your body.

•Your liver heals itself, thereby making itself more efficient at its job, if given time.

•The concept of ‘toxins’ is very vague. Those which do certifiably exist are dealt with by the liver.

Unfortunately for all you quick-fixers out there, the whole ‘detox’ thing appears to be coming down to two elements: time and effort. If you want a clean body, you need to stop putting dirt into it. What’s already there, your liver will remove. All you have to do is to stop replacing it. This means eating healthily, drinking plenty of water, and generally living the kind of boring, healthy lifestyle that we’d all rather bypass with a pill. Obviously your liver will clean out your body far more quickly and efficiently if it’s healthy – but, to be honest, all your liver needs to be healthy is time, and for you to stop rinsing it in booze. So, for a true ‘detox’ – just live healthily. That’s all. Save your pill money.

Article contributed by Anne Holster.